"In 1804, Alexander Von Humboldt and Admiral Fitzroy, the former having made a personal examination of the Darien route, declared in its favor. This route has had many adherents, and a large amount of money has been expended in its examination. I will not weary you with the names of all the explorers and engineers who have examined the various Isthmus routes. The catalogue is a long one; many valuable lives have been sacrificed in this work, and the most of those who returned alive were able to present only unsatisfactory reports. The climate was fearfully unhealthy; the natives were either hostile to the enterprise or indifferent, and would rarely give assistance; and though the governments through whose territory the routes lay were generally well disposed, they could not always control their subjects." "Probably the most thorough explorations," remarked Dr. Bronson, "were those ordered by the government of the United States in 1870. Several ships were fitted out, and the Darien, Nicaragua, Tehuantepec, and Panama routes were examined. Commodore Shufeldt went to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; Commanders Hatfield and Lull went to Nicaragua, the latter visiting Panama, to complete the exploration of that route. Commander Selfridge and Lieutenant Collins examined the Darien route, and also some of the rivers entering the ocean a little farther to the north. The whole exploration occupied about three years, and the reports are very voluminous. They are more interesting to the engineer than to the general reader, and I did not bring them along as part of my baggage." "I have read," said Fred, "about the expedition of Lieutenant Strain. Please tell us what route he examined." [Illustration: RESCUE OF THE SURVIVORS OF STRAIN'S EXPEDITION.] "Strain's expedition was to survey the Darien route," replied the Doctor. "It ended disastrously, as the party lost its way, and also its instruments and provisions, and wandered for many days in a dense forest where the men were obliged to cut their path at nearly every step. More than half the party perished in the wilderness, and Lieutenant Strain died soon after his return to the United States. [Illustration: STRAIN'S ARRIVAL AT THE COAST.]